


Dragons' Protection

by Gameasy



Series: The Beauty of Darkness [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But like in a kinda good way?, Dark Azula (Avatar), Dark Mai (Avatar), Dark Ty Lee (Avatar), Dark Zuko (Avatar), Everyone's dark, F/F, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Gen, Multi, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Protective Azula (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), Ursa (Avatar) Being A Terrible Parent, Zuko looked at canon and set it on fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:02:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gameasy/pseuds/Gameasy
Summary: Zuko and Azula each realize the truth of how the other is treated, and choose each other over the favor of their parents, and so the world changes.
Relationships: Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula/Mai/Ty Lee
Series: The Beauty of Darkness [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2197344
Comments: 4
Kudos: 231





	Dragons' Protection

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling a bit darker, and needed to get it out of my system, so here’s Azula and Zuko being kinda evil. Fair warning, like all the characters other than the main kids are gonna have a v bad time.

Zuko takes after his mother in almost all things, all but for his feelings toward Azula. From his first glimpse of Azula as a tiny toddler, he swore to himself that he would be there for her. 

At first, this simply meant playing with her and encouraging her as much as possible, but as he grew older and learned of the dangers of the world they live in, he expanded his vow. He will never let a single hair on her head come to harm if he has anything to say about it.

Even when Azula’s firebending grows stronger and eclipses his, he never wavers in his praise, and when she fumbles or gets burned, he’s always there to pick her back up, both literally and emotionally. 

Azula grows up knowing the contradictions surrounding love more than love itself, but deeply craves it nonetheless.

Her mother claims that love is powerful and worth its weight in gold, but she also says she loves Azula as much as she loves Zuko, and Azula knows that isn’t true. It couldn’t be, not with the fear that Azula sees when Ursa thinks she isn’t looking, not with the fact that Ursa would happily spend all day alone with Zuko but shies away from even an hour in public with Azula. 

(Zuko sees this, and his feelings toward Ursa start to shift. She may be his mother, but no one can hurt Azula without invoking his fury.)

Her father never openly talks on the matter of love, but Azula quickly learns that his approval is contingent on her perfect performance in everything assigned to her. For a time, she believes this is the love of which everyone speaks, and that everyone’s love has conditions placed on it, and she just hasn’t figured out what she has to do to gain Ursa’s love. But then she looks at Zuko, and realizes that his love has always felt different than Ozai’s, and that he has never required anything of her, and Ozai’s model of love falls apart in her hands. 

(Azula was already annoyed at those who dismissed Zuko for things beyond his control, but here is where she starts to truly burn.)

(They are both dragons, and will not idly stand by and let anyone harm the people that they claim as their own.)

When Azula overhears Azulon and Ozai plotting to kill Zuko, she knows that now is the time to act. 

Her first action is to talk to her mother, for surely Ursa will do something if her favorite is in danger. And so Azula follows Ursa through the palace and watches as she strikes a deal with Ozai. Ursa's plan to kill Azulon is a good one, but will take care of only half of the problem, as Ozai is still around, and he can no longer be trusted with Zuko’s life. Luckily, she is one of the only people that he trusts in the slightest, and a dagger to the neck doesn’t care how good the victim was at firebending. Watching the blood gout from his neck and his expression go slack is the most satisfying feeling she can recall. 

Zuko stayed behind the curtain with Azula, but a dragon’s flame will always burn stronger for those he claims than for himself, and so he waits. He waits in his room to see what may be coming, and is still on full alert when Ursa enters the room. When she tries to reassure him that everything she has done was to protect him, he also hears what she inadvertently implies, that she's never bothered to try to protect Azula and never would, no matter how much danger Azula was in. When she hugs him goodbye, he holds her tightly in return and gently sinks his knife into her heart from behind.

Zuko’s last memory of his dad will always be the disappointment and sadness Ozai wore in front of the Firelords throne, but his first thought when he thinks of Ozai in the future will be of Azula’s love and fierce protection. Azula’s last memory of her mom will always be her disgust and suspicion during their last conversation together, but her first thought when she thinks of Ursa will be of Zuko’s love and retribution.

Iroh hears rumors, and wonders what in the world became of Azula and Zuko in the last few years that he has been gone. He debates returning, either to take the throne or counsel whoever does, but is too exhausted and grief-stricken to do either properly.

Never before have this many of the royal family perished or disappeared at once, and the entire nation holds its breath to find out how things will turn out. Azula and Zuko are quickly crowned Firelord together, as a public acknowledgement that neither is above the other and that they will rule together in all ways. 

The public story is assassins and some even believe it, but those who do not tremble in fear. After all, Azula and Zuko were the only ones still standing when the dust cleared, which means that they must have been a part of the slaughter, and at a terrifyingly young age. No one feels the slightest bit confident in their ability to predict what the Firelords will do next. 

The answer would be obvious to anyone who knows dragons, but the Fire Nation has been hunting them for too long for anyone in power to know their ways. 

Azula and Zuko stretch their wings, and start to expand their hoard, claiming ever more people as their own. The first to feel the warm protection of the Dragons of the Caldera are the children, when the funding toward orphanages and schools is doubled overnight, on condition that crueler caretakers and teachers be reported directly to the Firelords. Azula and Zuko delight in forcing each one to endure the punishments that they normally mete out, but taken to such an extreme that they beg for mercy before the end. 

And the staff of the Palace slowly start to learn that they aren’t in danger anymore. The first real incident that sticks in everyone’s mind is when one of the servants is taken aside to a private room by Firelord Zuko. She breaks down, begging for mercy before she even has any idea what she might have done wrong, but he just asks after her wellbeing, because Firelord Azula had noticed her limping, and he wanted to make sure she was being take care of. No one in the palace remembers the last time that a Firelord noticed when one of them was injured, let alone expressed personal concern over them, so when he asks what happened, she’s so surprised and dumbfounded that she tells the truth without thinking.

The noble she names is never seen again.

Eventually, they even extend their claim deep into the colonies, and so they can hardly fault Mai when she kills her parents to protect the citizens of Omashu. Honestly, they’re mostly disappointed that they didn’t get to watch. When she writes, they happily appoint a more suitable governor for the job, and welcome her and Tom-Tom back to the Palace with open arms. A face among the nobility who they can actually trust is a welcome thought to them, and she rests easier knowing they would do just about anything to protect her and hers.

Ty Lee is more of a wild card, but both Azula and Mai know the reasons she joined the circus. One: She wants to be seen for who she is and what she can contribute, rather than as a disposable part of a matched set. Two: The desire for freedom and movement sings within her very blood and soul. Azula and Mai are more captivated by her than any audience in the world would be, and know parts of her mind and body that no one else does, so the first is no problem at all. But the second is only solved by setting her free, and so Ty Lee spends weeks roaming the countryside, making friends wherever she goes, and helping those who don’t have the means or desire to use more official channels. Seeing her come and go is much harder for Azula and Mai than they would like, but the knowledge that she is helping to protect their people in ways they cannot and the stories of death and destruction that she tells when she returns help make up for it.

It is at this point that Firelord Azula and Firelord Zuko end the war. They are sure that they could win, but the Fire Nation is losing soldiers by the day, and each one is another citizen of their nation who is lost to them forever. And for no reason, since all that is left of the Earth Kingdom is vast tracks of nearly empty land, and Ba Sing Se, a city that is famous more for its ridiculous size than anything meaningful. What exactly would they do with thousands of miles of land they don’t need? 

No, the war has gone on quite long enough. And with the entire might of the Fire Nation military dedicated toward protecting either the colonies or the mainland instead of attacking, no one is ever going to get close enough to hurt the people who live under the Dragons’ wings.


End file.
